Day 452 – Ollantaytambo to Cusco
Last day of our Sacred Valley visit
Ollantaytambo
Today we packed our backpacks after breakfast at Inka House B&B. We walked to the colectivo terminal, which is near the San Pedro Market (Mercardo San Pedro). There was a van waiting here that was going to Urubamba. We went into the van around 10am and only had to wait 5 minutes until it was full enough to leave.
Urubamba
We arrived in Urubamba half an hour later. From here, we had to catch another colectivo leaving for the town of Maras. This collectivo left at 10.50am with only 3 people including us.
We passed the intersection of Ramal 15 minutes later. Online we had read that this is where the colectivos stop from Urubuma. We did see a few colectivos and taxis waiting here at the intersection. However, our colectivo was going all the way to Maras.
Maras
As we dropped off the other passenger at the Maras Plaza 10 minutes later, the driver told us to stay inside the van. He drove a few blocks and then asked if we were going to the ruins. When we said yes, he offered to take us to the Moray ruins and Maras Salt Mine (Salineras de Maras) for 70 PEN (~$33 AUD) with 30 minutes to explore at each site. We thought it was excessive at the time.
We refused and asked a few other drivers, who told us similar prices. One guy said he would take us for 50 PEN (~$24 AUD) with only 20 minutes at each site. We thought it wouldn’t be enough time. In retrospect, we should have taken this offer.
In the end, we went to the Council Office, near the plaza and asked for their opinion. One of the workers spoke perfect English and helped to organise a taxi driver that he knew. He took us on a taxi tour for 70 PEN (~$33 AUD) with an hour waiting time at each site.
Moray Ruins
We arrived at the Moray Ruins, which are essentially really cool looking concentric terraces. The ruins are included with the Boleto Turistico del Cusco 10 Day Pass. The site is small. According to the map of the site, the circuit for all 3 terraces would take 1.5 hours. We were able to see them all in 30 minutes.
The first terrace is the most beautiful, which is pictured above.
Salineras de Maras
The drive to the salt mines was mainly down dirt roads. We could see thunder in the distance. After half an hour, we came to the entrance where we paid. The lady who took our money had a short conversation with the driver, and then got into our taxi.
It appeared that we were giving her a lift to the mines, which were 20 minutes away. The road to the mines curves around a mountain, which gave us aerial views of the mines.
We were pretty disappointed, as the mines that are meant to look white, were just brown. This was apparently due to the rain over the last couple of days.
It was strange that the mines were really busy, as it appeared to be a hotspot for larger guided tours. Since we were already here, we went down and walked to the observation deck to view what essentially looked like pools of mud.
We only need around 20 minutes here. There are restaurants, toilets and souvenirs stalls if we wanted to spend more time though. We just went back to look for our driver.
Ramal
Once we found the driver, he took us to the Ramal intersection. We were back here at 2pm. In less than 5 minutes, a very nice empty tourist van was heading to Cusco and stopped for us. They offered 5 PEN (~$2 AUD) per person to Cusco, but we wanted to stop in the town of Chinchero first. Therefore, we paid a reduced 3 PEN (~1.50 AUD) per person.
Chinchero
The journey to Chinchero took 20 minutes. We were really hungry by this stage, so we walked down the main road looking for a restaurant. Chinchero is a small town and we couldn’t find any restaurants until we stumbled upon a really nice one called Restaurante Antawara. The items listed on the menu were a little pricey, but we were able to get the menu of the day (menu el dia) and even pay using our debit card.
Chinchero Ruins
From the restaurant, we were able to walk to the close by Chinchero Ruins. The site is full of mainly terraces that are next to a colonial age church. The site is nice to walk around to see the terraces up close.
We spent a total of 40 minutes at the site. These ruins are included with the Boleto Turistico del Cusco 10 Day Pass.
We walked back to the main road to wait for a colectivo going to Cusco. Around 5pm another empty tourist van offered to take us back. It was pricey, but since it was getting late, we took it. We were dropped off around the San Francisco Plaza, which is only 2 blocks away from the main plaza.
From the plaza, we walked back to Cusco International Hostal, where we had left our large backpacks a few days ago.
Travelled November 2019
Expenses and Transport
- Boleto TurĂstico del Cusco – 10 Day Pass – 130 PEN (~$62 AUD) per person
- Colectivo – Ollantaytambo to Urubamba – 2 PEN (~$1 AUD) per person
- Colectivo – Urubamba to Maras – 3 PEN (~1.50 AUD) per person
- Taxi Tour – Moray and Salineras de Maras – 70 PEN (~$33 AUD) 1-4 people
- Entrance Fee – Maras Salt Mines (Salineras de Maras) – 10 PEN (~$5 AUD) per person
- Colectivo – Ramal to Chinchero – 3 PEN (~$1.50 AUD) per person
- Colectivo – Chinchero to Cusco – 6 PEN (~$3 AUD) per person